Her Worst Fear
by Felgia Starr
Summary: Astoria's struggles with Scorpius and Draco. Muggle AU. Assignment #2 for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments).


**Subject : **Psychology

 **Task** : Write about a child demonstrating learned behaviour from an adult or role model.

 **Word Count:** 1969 (500 - 3000)

 **Prompts Used:**

(Character) Draco Malfoy

(Word) Model

 **. . .**

Astoria stood in front of his trailer home, holding a baby in her arms, in the middle of an awful snow storm. Her son's wails and shrieks woke her parents up, and they were so pissed that they kicked her out of their home. And now, she had no choice but to go to the father of her son's house. It wasn't the first time she went there, but the last time she did, she was also kicked out because of the bundle in her arms that was supposed to be made of joy.

She sighed and knocked again. She loved her son so much, and she was not going to blame him for anything that happened. He did not ask to be born into this shit pile of a life, after all. It was her and Draco's mistake that made him, and Astoria was going to make sure that he was going to live a good life.

The door finally opened to reveal the Draco she was familiar with – the Draco that was angry, conceited, and prejudiced. She honestly didn't know what she was thinking when she decided to sleep with him. He had no money, he was lazy, he was misogynistic, and he was a terrible father. He hated it when Scorpius cried, always blaming him for it. Whenever she was in his home, she was the one who cooked, who cleaned, who worked, who took care of Scorpius. It was like forcing a hundred things into a small hole. Draco believed that he didn't have to work for his money – he was basically the result of rich, racist, and privileged parents. When he was young, he thought that he didn't have to study hard because he was going to receive his inheritance, but it turned out that the Malfoys had plenty of debt and it needed to be paid. So now, Draco lived alone in a trailer house, selling drugs for money. Illegal drugs were expensive, yes, but whenever he got paid, Draco uses his money for material shite that he wasn't going to need.

And because Astoria promised her son a good life, she also promised him a complete family. She hated Draco, but if staying with him meant that her son would be happy, then she would gladly be his doormat.

"My parents kicked me out again," Astoria explained. She knew he didn't like this particular reason, but he was going to let them into his house because in his own fucked up way, Astoria knew he loved Scorpius.

 **. . .**

"You think you can leave my house?" Draco shouted, as he kicked a curled up Astoria in the stomach repeatedly. "You think you can leave _me?"_

Astoria clenched her teeth, and tried to kick him back. She refused to cry out in pain, even if it hurt her so. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of making her beg. She would never beg for him.

"I will!" she screamed back, throat raw, voice cracked. "Someday I'll fucking leave you and I'll take Scorpius with me!"

And then suddenly, the constant pressure on her stomach stopped, though the pain was still there. She thought it was over. She thought no more would come.

She was wrong. She was wrong because Draco grabbed her by the hair, causing her to sit up, and used his other hand to punch her in the face. The sickening crack and numbness in her nose area made her cringe. She only realized that she was crying when she felt the tears on her neck. She wondered if this was how love felt like.

Astoria felt him brush his lips against the shell of her ear. She shivered in disgust. This couldn't be love because the only thing she could feel for him was hatred.

"You will never get rid of me, Astoria." Draco whispered. She caught a whiff of his breath, it smelled like cheap alcohol, it smelled disgusting – _he_ was disgusting. "I will stalk you while you live. I will haunt you when I'm dead. And we'll both rot in hell together. _Forever_."

Then, he pushed her away from him. His revulsion for her also apparent.

She couldn't get his words out of her head. He mentioned that they would be together forever.

Forever; the word was used as a vow, it meant always, it meant permanent.

She didn't want that. Astoria liked the idea of change too much to believe in forever, and forever with Draco sounded like a punishment.

Punishment for what, she wondered. What had she done to deserve abuse? What had she done to deserve being shunned by her own family? She only wanted the best for her son.

Astoria smiled sadly as she thought of Scorpius. He was three years of age now, looking more like his father each and every day. He loved Draco because he'd only seen the best of him. She wondered what he would do if he saw Draco abusing her. The poor boy would probably confused and cry in frustration. She never liked it when Scorpius cry, it broke her heart. Good thing, the boy did not witness those kinds of events. Would he be crushed by the actions of his father? Would he not notice anything wrong at all because he was a child? Or would he… **No.**

She could not let that happen. She would make sure that Scorpius avoided bad situations.

But she didn't notice the blond boy leaning on the door, woken up by shouting and confused by his parents' actions.

 **. . .**

Scorpius wanted ice cream. He told his father he wanted ice cream. They were heading into an ice cream parlor to buy him the ice cream. Scorpius got what he wanted, always. But Draco said that women weren't allowed to speak in public and that Astoria must walk at least one meter behind them. Like a slave. She wasn't allowed to voice her opinions in public, she should never have to carry shopping bags because she was weak and couldn't handle it. She could never choose what she wanted to eat in a restaurant, her food was chosen for her. Like a slave.

Scorpius was a five-year-old boy who thought his father was God. She shouldn't be envious of his freedom. She was older than him, she had _some_ rights.

Astoria was a woman, and she loved being a woman. She loved being able to create life, she loved her unique body, and she loved being a mother. She hated that she was judged for being something she loved. She hated not being able to speak just because she was a woman. She hated having to apologize whenever she did something she had the right to do. She should just say what she wanted to say without asking a man for permission. And she did.

"I want chocolate." Astoria declared, looking Draco in the eye.

She swore she saw his left eye twitch before he hit her across the face. Hard.

God, she hated the _sound_ of his abuse more than the actual physical pain. But today was different, they were in public. Surely, someone had heard that cringe-worthy sound of a slap. Surely, someone would step in and call the cops. Surely, someone would take her and Scorpius away from him. Surely, someone _cared_.

She was wrong. No one cared. No one would ever care about her. They all just stared in shock and went back to what they were doing before. They acted as if what Draco had just done was normal. Was it normal?

And, Scorpius! Her son just witnessed his father being a monster. No, no, no, no. His innocence, his love, his sympathy –

"Daddy, why is the wait sooooo long?" the boy wailed.

Scorpius was alright. Draco was alright. They were all so fine, while she suffered.

She looked down in shame.

Astoria was a wronged woman, betrayed by the people that surrounded her, betrayed by her son.

 **. . .**

Draco was out drinking with his friends, so he told Astoria to go to Scorpius's school because he got in trouble. She almost forgot, thank God that she found the principal's letter while cleaning Draco's room.

So here she was now, running around her son's school, looking like a mad woman. She didn't have time to look pretty. She was not young anymore. She didn't have time for material shit like that, she was a mom. She was a working mother with a useless man as her son's father.

She was glad that Scorpius had great grades, actually, he was her inspiration. The only person that kept her going, even though he grew some sort of resentment towards her because he was so close to his father, and he might've gotten his mind poisoned a little bit. He always made sure to come back home with an A+ on his test paper though. She believed that he was doing well in school. But, if he was such a good student, what would the principal call her for?

Astoria got the answer to that question when she finally found the principal's office and opened the door.

Her nine-year-old son sat with his arms crossed, looking like the angst-filed teenager he wasn't. By his side sat a girl with red hair, a bruise on the side of her cheek obvious.

Oh God, please. Please answer her prayers just this once.

"Good afternoon, Miss Greengrass," the principal greeted with a tight smile on her face. "Come, sit."

She took the empty seat next to her son.

"You must be wondering why you're here." The principal needed to say the formal things before cutting to the chase, of course. "Your son, Mister Malfoy here, has been doing some questionable things lately."

Astoria resisted to roll her eyes.

"Please, just tell me." She didn't really care if she came off as rude. She didn't really care about life in general.

"He…" the principal hesitated. "He has been saying some very sexist comments. And, as you can see, he had slapped a certain Miss Weasley for… disagreeing with Mister Malfoy here."

Draco. Her son turned out to be the monster she feared. He became Draco.

She didn't realize she was crying until she felt the tears on her neck again, just like before.

Astoria turned to her son.

"Scorpius…" Then, she broke down.

 **. . .**

"Why?" she asked him after recollecting the little dignity she had left.

Scorpius glared at her with those gray eyes. The same gray eyes that was disgusted at her, the same gray eyes that hated her, the gray eyes she _loathed._

"She got the same grades as me!" he reasoned. It was a stupid reason. It came from Draco. "I told her boys are better than girls and that she shouldn't try to better than me. She called me mean. So, I slapped her. What's the big deal? Dad told me that doing that was okay and he does it to you. In the ice cream parlor?"

Astoria cried again. Did she really fail as a mother? Did she, after enduring all the pain, fail to do the only thing she wanted to do? She was supposed to protect him from Draco. She _should've_ avoided Draco from the very start.

But maybe it was not too late. He was only nine, surely she could influence his mind again. Surely, she could find the antidote to Draco's venom. If she could not, then she would make one. She would present herself as a much better role model than Draco.

She was going to leave, once and for all, with her son. She was going to beg for her sister to take her in. Astoria would not let her son become her worst fear.


End file.
